On March 16, 2026 a federal jury announced the verdict in the case United States v. Alsheikh and found the defendant, a former Brigadier General and head of the notorious Adra Prison in Damascus,  guilty on all counts, including three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture, visa fraud, and attempted naturalization fraud. Alsheikh is the highest ranking Assad regime official arrested and tried outside of Syria.

The SETF team learned of Alsheikh’s presence in the United States in late 2021, and promptly alerted US federal authorities, who began collecting evidence and building a case against the former Brigadier General. Alsheikh was subsequently arrested in 2024, when he purchased a one-way ticket to Lebanon and was thus deemed a flight risk. Over the years, our team has continued to work closely with federal prosecutors and law enforcement to provide evidence of Alsheikh’s crimes.

During the trial, witnesses who had been detained in Adra Prison and in the Political Security branch in Adra while Alsheikh was in command shared their testimonies with the jury and recounted instances of torture and other grave abuses, which became systematic under his leadership. They also testified that Alsheikh himself inflicted torture on detainees. In 2011, Alsheik was appointed governor of Deir Ezzor, where he ordered violent crackdowns on peaceful demonstrations.

This verdict marks a major milestone in the fight against impunity for the crimes of the Assad regime, and it sends a clear message to other perpetrators that justice will be served.